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Breaking News in Tech, Search, Social, & BusinessTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:32:15 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1Newspapers Are Dying For A Lot Of Reasons, And Craigslist Is One Of Themhttp://www.webpronews.com/newspapers-are-dying-for-a-lot-of-reasons-and-craigslist-is-one-of-them-2013-08
http://www.webpronews.com/newspapers-are-dying-for-a-lot-of-reasons-and-craigslist-is-one-of-them-2013-08#commentsWed, 14 Aug 2013 20:16:36 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=250507Newspapers are dying. It’s an inevitable fact that the Internet has made print newspapers largely irrelevant. People think that the Internet has only robbed newspapers of their readers due to the medium’s ability to deliver news faster, but a new study has found that the Internet has been taking ad dollars from newspapers as well.

The Raw Story reports a new research study to be published in Management Science by New York University has found that Craigslist took a huge chunk out of newspapers’ classified ads business between 2000 and 2007. How big of a chunk? At least $5 billion.

So, what kind of impact has Craigslist had on small newspapers? The study found that there was a massive 20.7 percent drop in classified ad rates in the seven years surveyed by researchers. During that same time, they found that subscription prices rose by 3.3 percent while circulation fell by 4.4 percent. With those numbers, it’s a losing game for small newspapers unless they can somehow convince readers to pony up even more money per newspaper.

What should worry more newspapers is that the study didn’t take into account any decline in classified ad rates from 2008 to 2012. The researchers fear that newspapers may have felt the sting of Craigslist even more over the last four years. The study also didn’t take into account other online classified ad services so the impact could be even greater.

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the death of newspapers, the researchers are largely positive. They feel that newspapers are adjusting their business models to deal with the shortfall left behind by the loss of readers and ads. That’s true for the larger newspapers, like The New York Times, that have successfully transitioned to online and mobile.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of small papers without any online presence at all. They will feel the sting of declining readers and ad revenue the most. It doesn’t help that those same small papers are never afforded the resources to successfully transition to an online business model.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/newspapers-are-dying-for-a-lot-of-reasons-and-craigslist-is-one-of-them-2013-08/feed1eBay Craigslist Dispute Turns Into Criminal DoJ Investigationhttp://www.webpronews.com/ebay-craigslist-dispute-turns-into-criminal-doj-investigation-2011-09
http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-craigslist-dispute-turns-into-criminal-doj-investigation-2011-09#commentsWed, 14 Sep 2011 18:45:40 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=76036Prosecutors with the U.S. Justice Department are reportedly investigating claims that eBay employees took confidential info from Craigslist to use in a service that would compete with it.

Reuters reports that it has obviated a copy of a grand jury subpoena as an old civil dispute turns into a criminal investigation. Reuters quotes an eBay spokeswoman as saying in an email, “EBay believes that Craigslist’s allegations against eBay are without merit. We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, and we will aggressively pursue our claims against Craigslist.”

She also said eBay would cooperate in any inquiry related to the dispute. Bloomberg reports:

The Sept. 7 grand jury subpoena of Craigslist seeks information pertaining to “incidents where EBay employees engaged in alleged criminal activities and misconduct focused around the misappropriation of proprietary/confidential information from Craigslist.”

The incidents include a February 2005 request by Pierre Omidyar, EBay’s chairman and founder, for information about Craigslist’s approach to adding new cities and advance notice of plans to launch new cities, according to the subpoena.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-craigslist-dispute-turns-into-criminal-doj-investigation-2011-09/feed0eBay Launches New Classifieds Sitehttp://www.webpronews.com/ebay-launches-new-classifieds-site-2010-03
http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-launches-new-classifieds-site-2010-03#commentsTue, 30 Mar 2010 17:22:25 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=53487eBay said today it is launching two iPhone selling apps, one for its online marketplace and one for its new classifieds site.

With the new eBay Selling and classifieds apps users can photograph and list an item in less than a minute. On April 3, the company will introduce a new version of the eBay app for iPad.
]]>eBay said today it is launching two iPhone selling apps, one for its online marketplace and one for its new classifieds site.

With the new eBay Selling and classifieds apps users can photograph and list an item in less than a minute. On April 3, the company will introduce a new version of the eBay app for iPad.

"The eBay Selling app makes it easy for sellers to bring even greater value and selection to eBay and offer more great deals for buyers," said Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces.

"Whether selling or shopping, we’ve put the world’s largest online marketplace in the palm of your hand, and we’ve introduced a great new option for consumers who prefer to sell and buy in a trusted, family friendly local classifieds format."

eBay says it is relaunching its Kijiji classifieds site in the U.S. as eBayClassifieds.com with improvements in trust and safety, customer service and user experience. eBay Classifieds does not accept personals or other adult related content.

More than 8 million people use their iPhone to shop on eBay, the company expects to generate $1.5 billion in merchandise volume via its mobile platform in 2010. In 2009, mobile commerce for eBay reached $600 million.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-launches-new-classifieds-site-2010-03/feed0Craigslist Substantially Expands its Reachhttp://www.webpronews.com/craigslist-substantially-expands-its-reach-2009-08
http://www.webpronews.com/craigslist-substantially-expands-its-reach-2009-08#commentsFri, 21 Aug 2009 21:40:25 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=51143Craigslist has reportedly expanded the number of cities it offers its service in by a whopping 25%. Brad Stone with the New York Times claims to have been alerted by a spokesperson with the company on the matter.

Apparently Craiglist has added 140 new cities, including 87 in the United States, 8 in Canada, and 45 in non-North American countries.
]]>Craigslist has reportedly expanded the number of cities it offers its service in by a whopping 25%. Brad Stone with the New York Times claims to have been alerted by a spokesperson with the company on the matter.

Apparently Craiglist has added 140 new cities, including 87 in the United States, 8 in Canada, and 45 in non-North American countries.

"Among the targeted areas in the United States are dozens of small to midsize cities like Susanville, Calif. (population 18,000), Oneonta, N.Y. (13,000), and the counties of Okaloosa and Walton, Fla. (a combined 229,000.)," says Stone. "If that expansion sounds minor, consider that Craigslist also added new sites for international cities like Lucknow, India (population 2.5 million), Shenzhen, China (14 million), and New Castle, Australia, (280,000)."

Craigslist is expected to update the company’s official fact sheet to list all of the included cities by the end of the month. There is not mention of the news on the company’s official blog.

Most of the new sites are English-language only. According to Craigslist, over 50 million people in the US alone use the site. The company also claims to get over 20 billion page views per month. With an added 25% of global coverage, I would imagine it will get a nice boost in that department.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/craigslist-substantially-expands-its-reach-2009-08/feed7Online Classifieds Usage Doubles In Four Yearshttp://www.webpronews.com/online-classifieds-usage-doubles-in-four-years-2009-05
http://www.webpronews.com/online-classifieds-usage-doubles-in-four-years-2009-05#commentsTue, 26 May 2009 22:33:36 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=50024Almost half (49%) of all Internet users have visited an online classified site like craigslist, a percentage that’s more than doubled over the past four years. In 2005, that number was just 22 percent, according to Pew Internet.

On any given day, about a tenth of Internet users, (9%) visit online classifieds, up from four percent in 2005.

Pew’s findings are based on an April 2009 telephone survey of 2,253 adults. Pew says the margin of error sits at about plus or minus 2.4 percent.

]]>Almost half (49%) of all Internet users have visited an online classified site like craigslist, a percentage that’s more than doubled over the past four years. In 2005, that number was just 22 percent, according to Pew Internet.

On any given day, about a tenth of Internet users, (9%) visit online classifieds, up from four percent in 2005.

Pew’s findings are based on an April 2009 telephone survey of 2,253 adults. Pew says the margin of error sits at about plus or minus 2.4 percent.

“In the world of online classified advertising,” writes Pew, “Craigslist is by far the most used website in the United States. In March 2009, classified sites averaged 53.8 million unique visitors, up 7% from February. Craigslist had 42.2 million unique visitors in the month of March.”

That’s continued bad news for traditional newspapers, who made millions upon millions of dollars from classified listings over the decades. Likely all the controversy surrounding the so-called “craigslist killer” and subsequent assaults by state attorneys general has only helped craigslist in terms of brand recognition.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/online-classifieds-usage-doubles-in-four-years-2009-05/feed3Hitwise Documents Huge Rise In Classifieds Traffichttp://www.webpronews.com/hitwise-documents-huge-rise-in-classifieds-traffic-2009-04
http://www.webpronews.com/hitwise-documents-huge-rise-in-classifieds-traffic-2009-04#commentsWed, 01 Apr 2009 20:56:31 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=49290Don't be surprised if the people behind Craigslist and other classifieds sites are secretly hoping for a repeat of the Great Depression. New stats from Hitwise have arrived, and they show that Craigslist's already-significant market share is increasing in such a way that it almost resembles a hockey stick.
]]>Don’t be surprised if the people behind Craigslist and other classifieds sites are secretly hoping for a repeat of the Great Depression. New stats from Hitwise have arrived, and they show that Craigslist’s already-significant market share is increasing in such a way that it almost resembles a hockey stick.

A report Hitwise emailed to WebProNews reads, "The market share of U.S. Internet visits increased 90 percent to the Craigslist Cities custom category year-over-year in February 2009, while visits to All Other Classifieds grew 22 percent. Visits to All Other Classifieds had been declining for most of 2008, with visits starting to increase in January and February."

So it seems the recession is more or less rescuing some classifieds sites while acting as a rocket booster for Craigslist. This meshes well with last week’s info about Craigslist replacing MySpace as the top U.S. search term.

It’ll be interesting to see how classifieds companies respond to all of the attention. They might put their sites in stasis, afraid to change anything and lose traffic. Or some may churn out upgrades in the hopes of impressing people and keeping them around after the economy recovers.

Hitwise’s Heather Dougherty seemed to back the idea that we’ll see some long-term effects, stating, "Currently the economy is driving the growth among online classifieds, but satisfied buyers may continue to turn to the Web sites when researching purchases."

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/hitwise-documents-huge-rise-in-classifieds-traffic-2009-04/feed1eBay Branding its Classifiedshttp://www.webpronews.com/ebay-branding-its-classifieds-2009-03
http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-branding-its-classifieds-2009-03#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2009 16:51:34 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=48871eBay injects its brand name into its classifieds subsidiary Kijiji, which launched four years ago. Starting with two cities, the Kijiji name will change to eBay Classifieds.]]>eBay injects its brand name into its classifieds subsidiary Kijiji, which launched four years ago. Starting with two cities, the Kijiji name will change to eBay Classifieds.

The testing begins in San Antonio and Pittsburgh, but will likely become more widespread later. The eBay brand seems a bit tarnished, but that brand name is probably the company’s greatest asset. It has a tremendous amount of familiarity among consumers. Kijiji users in the testing cities got emails over the weekend that went something like this:

Dear Kijiji San Antonio user,

Starting in early March, Kijiji San Antonio is going to be trying out a new name, “eBay Classifieds San Antonio.” We here at Kijiji thought it made a lot of sense to start using the eBay brand name. After all, we are part of the eBay family and we are a classifieds site…so “eBay Classifieds” just seemed like a good idea. Of course, we’re very curious to hear what you think so let us know once you see the change.

Also, please rest assured that nothing will change other than the name and the domain! Everything else stays the same. That means your ad will stay posted on the site, but instead of finding it at Kijiji San Antonio you will now find it at eBay Classifieds San Antonio. And, as always, we will continue to be your FREE local classifieds site!

eBayClassifieds

Warm regards,

The Kijiji team
P.S. If you happen to browse to one of our sister sites, you may notice that they’re still called Kijiji. So consider yourself special! We chose only San Antonio and one other city to try out this new name for now.

Despite the harsh opinions many (ex-)sellers hold about eBay, the move appears to be a smart one. As it stands right now, there is nothing on Kijiji’s homepage to indicate that it has anything to do with eBay. The branding will likely boost the site’s use.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/ebay-branding-its-classifieds-2009-03/feed7AOL Rolls Out Classified Sitehttp://www.webpronews.com/aol-rolls-out-classified-site-2009-02
http://www.webpronews.com/aol-rolls-out-classified-site-2009-02#commentsMon, 23 Feb 2009 17:01:54 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=48773AOL has entered into the classified market place with the launch of AOL Classifieds that allows users to search through local listings for every Zip Code in the U.S., as well as post their own ads for free.

AOL partnered with Oodle, which operates the largest network of classifieds services in the U.S. Users will have access to more than 40 million listings aggregated from more than 80,000 different sites.

]]>AOL has entered into the classified market place with the launch of AOL Classifieds that allows users to search through local listings for every Zip Code in the U.S., as well as post their own ads for free.

AOL partnered with Oodle, which operates the largest network of classifieds services in the U.S. Users will have access to more than 40 million listings aggregated from more than 80,000 different sites.

"With the current economic climate, providing consumers with an easy way to buy and sell merchandise and services, or make local connections through classifieds is becoming even more important," said Chris Spanos, General Manager, AOL Local and Specialty Verticals.

AOL Classifieds will be competing with more established services such as Craigslist and eBay’s Kijij.

AOL Classifieds is now part of the AOL Local Network, with a monthly reach of 54 million unique visitors.

AOL also launched a classified site for Canada and has plans to launch one in the UK later this week.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/aol-rolls-out-classified-site-2009-02/feed2Behavioral Targeting Rising In Online Classifiedshttp://www.webpronews.com/behavioral-targeting-rising-in-online-classifieds-2008-08
http://www.webpronews.com/behavioral-targeting-rising-in-online-classifieds-2008-08#commentsThu, 14 Aug 2008 18:45:04 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=46628Reaching the right customer with a classifieds placement may be the province of tighter behavioral targeting, rather than waiting for someone to search for what they want.

It happens so commonly that Craigslist has been blamed for remaking the newspaper industry, and not always in a positive way. Someone wants something and turns to the online classifieds site to see what others posted in a free listing, with a connection likely turning into a transaction.

Classified Intelligence (CI) said in a recent client advisory the desire of all kinds of classifieds sites to find buyers early likely signals a big shift into behavioral targeting. Such targeting looks at what people do while online.

“Classified sites will become a critical part of the infrastructure that captures and understands consumers

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/behavioral-targeting-rising-in-online-classifieds-2008-08/feed3Oodle Scores MySpace Classifieds Dealhttp://www.webpronews.com/oodle-scores-myspace-classifieds-deal-2008-07
http://www.webpronews.com/oodle-scores-myspace-classifieds-deal-2008-07#commentsTue, 29 Jul 2008 00:06:13 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=46406No Craigslist or Kijiji for Rupert Murdoch’s social networking outpost, MySpace; it’s Oodle that landed the agreement to make over the classified section on the site.